Snippets of the Manchester Regiment

[timberman]

PLEASE NOTE
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Neil (Timberman)




V.C. CHAMPIONSHIP.WANGANUI CHRONICLE, VOLUME LXXIV, ISSUE 17673,
24 SEPTEMBER 1919

V.C. CHAMPIONSHIP.

Which regiment won the most V.C.'s during the war?
The "Weekly Despatch" is able to publish for the first
time the exact figures, supplied from War Office lists.
The •Lancashire Fusiliers, mainly owing to their gallant
exploits in the GallipoU campaign, easily hold pride of
place. ': The first three are:-— Lancashire Fusiliers (17) ..1
Rifle Brigade (10) .. .. ..) Royal Fusiliers (10) .. ..) 2 Y
orkshire Regiment (10) ..) Royal Lane. Regiment (9) .)
3 Manchester Regiment (9) ..) In the Colonial forces
Australia takes pride of place, Canada being close on
her heels. The placings are:— Australia (63) 1 Canada (60)
2 India (17) 3 New Zealand (11) 4 South Africa (4) ........
5 The Royal Navy was awarded 23 V.C.'s, the R.N.R. 12, and the R.N.V.R. 7.

Timberman

[timberman]

PROMOTION ON BATTLEFIELD.POVERTY BAY HERALD, VOLUME XLII, ISSUE 13633, 13 MARCH 1915

PROMOTION ON BATTLEFIELD.

LONDON, March 12. Cecil Humphries, ,a New Zealander,
who joined the Army Service Corps at the outbreak of the war,
and later exchanged to the First Manchester Regiment, has
been awarded the distinguished conduct medal and promoted
to sergeant on the battlefield. BrigadierGeneral Strickland
assembled the men, and decorated Humphries.

Click on the picture to make it bigger.

Timberman

[timberman]

NORTHERN ADVOCATE, 7 MAY 1940

Machine-gun section takes up a position in village street
during divisional exercises held recently by B.E.F. in France.
Men belong to the Manchester Regiment. (2nd Battalion)

Click on the picture to make it bigger

First photo is from the newspaper the second one is off the internet.

Timberman

[timberman]

THE KING'S COLOUR, 96TH REGIMENT OF FOOT (MONSON'S), CIRCA 1761-65

 SOLD BY ORDER OF THE TRUSTEES OF THE 10TH BARON MONSON
 

THE KING'S COLOUR, 96TH REGIMENT OF FOOT (MONSON'S), CIRCA 1761-65 of silk, sewn from twelve white, eight blue and three red pieces to form a Union Flag of the type in use 1707-1800 and embroidered in the centre with a Union Wreath, of roses and thistles, in coloured silks enclosing, in silver wire and yellow silk thread, the title REGT, over the numerals XCVI; a hoist tube of crimson silk; some slight damage in the upper hoist corner and some contemporary patching of small holes 167.7cm; 66in x 198.2cm; 78in This Colour would have been one of two used by the regiment in the four years of its existence; the other Colour would have been the Regimental Colour, which would have been of the regimental 'facing' colour (buff) with a similar design in the centre and a small Union Flag in the canton.
96th Foot (Monson's) was formed in India early in 1761 from four companies of 70th Foot (Parslow's) and five Independent Companies, all of which had been shipped from Britain for the purpose. Command of the 96th was given to The Hon. George Monson (1730-76), third son of 1st Baron Monson, who had gone to India in 1759 as major in 79th Foot (Draper's) and distinguished himself at the siege and capture of Pondicherry, being promoted lieutenant-colonel in 1760. During 1761 and 1762, the 96th was divided between Bombay and Madras, with a detachment at Tellicherry, and in 1762 Monson served as quartermaster-general during an expedition to Manila in the Philippines. In May 1763, the 96th was united in Madras as part of a force being formed to undertake punitive action against the ruler of the Carnatic city and province of Madura, which was besieged by the force, commanded by Monson, by the end of August. Madura proving a tougher nut to crack than expected, the siege failed, with the 96th being in action against native cavalry and in the besieging trenches for the remainder of 1763 but being withdrawn to Madras in mid-December that year: the small patched holes in this Colour may have resulted from it having been damaged in action at Madura August-December 1763. Monson sailed for home in May 1764 and some elements of his regiment fought at the battle of Buxar in October 1764; given its provenance, it seems probable that Monson brought this Colour home with him. Those officers and men of the 96th who had not elected to remain in India in other regiments, or in the East India Company's service, probably returned to Britain in 1764 and 1765: the regiment is considered as having ceased to exist by 1765.
See A. Cormack 2006, pp. 215-222, esp. pp. 217-221.

Lot 230
Price paid  £16,800
Estimate  £3,000-5,000
Buyer US Institutional Collection
The King’s Colour, 96th Regiment of Foot (Monson’s), circa 1761-65.

A bit more information on,

George Monson, Brig. Gen., Hon.
Birthdate:   1730
Death:   circa September 1776 
Hooghly, India
Immediate Family:   Son of John Monson, 1st Baron Monson of Burton and Margaret Watson, Baroness Monson
Husband of Lady Anne Monson / Hall, of Darlington
Brother of John Monson, 2nd Baron Monson of Burton and Lewis Watson, 1st Baron Sondes

About George Monson, Brig. Gen., Hon.
between 1759 and 1764 ‎(Age 29)‎ Served in India with the 96th Regiment of Foot, including at the siege of Madura
view all
George Monson, Brig. Gen., Hon.'s Timeline
1730   1730   Birth of George

1776   September 1776
Age 46   Death of George at Hooghly, India
Hooghly, India   
Constituency
Dates
LINCOLN
1754 - 1768
Family and Education
b. 18 Apr. 1730, 3rd s. of John, 1st Baron Monson, by Lady Margaret Watson, da. of Lewis, 1st Earl of Rockingham.  educ. Westminster 1738; Grand Tour 1747-9.  m. 1757, Anne, da. of Henry, 1st Earl of Darlington, div. w. of Charles Hope Weir, s.p.
Offices Held
Ensign 1 Ft. Gds. 1750, lt. and capt. 1753, maj. 64 Ft. 1757, lt.-col. 1760; lt.-col. commdt. 96 Ft. 1761-3; brig.-gen. (India only) 1763; col. army 1769; col. 50 Ft. 1775- d.
Groom of the bedchamber to Prince of Wales 1756-60, to the King 1760-3.
Biography
In 1754 Monson contested Lincoln on his brother’s interest, and topped the poll after a corrupt and expensive election. On 6 Nov. 1757 Newcastle wrote to Sir John Ligonier, that had he known about the appointments of officers for the East Indies, he would have recommended a very near relation of his:1
Captain Monson of the Guards, who is a very pretty young man, and only wishes to go abroad, anywhere, to serve. I have long recommended him to the Duke, but without success. H.R.H. ... was pleased some time ago, to offer him to purchase a majority for £1200, but poor man, he had not the money, though his brother my Lord Monson spent above £6000 to choose him for Lincoln. The favour I now ask for him (who is a pretty old captain) is a majority; he would like it best in America, the East or West Indies, or at Gibraltar, that he might be on service.
On 18 Nov. Monson was appointed major in the 64 Foot and sailed for India, 5 Mar. 1758. He was second-in-command at the siege of Pondicherry, 1761, and was to have superseded Eyre Coote, but was seriously wounded. Monson, who distinguished himself at the capture of Manilla, 1762, was appointed a brigadier-general in India in 1763, and returned to England in December 1764.2 Even now, Gilly Williams wrote to George Selwyn, 19 Mar. 1765:3
His friends see ... little of him. He lives shut up with Lady Anne, and is going to settle for life in some remote county ... he has never been at White’s, and not twice at the House of Commons.
In Rockingham’s list of July 1765 he was classed as a supporter; in that of November 1766 as ‘Whig’, and in Newcastle’s of 2 Mar. 1767 as ‘friend’. But he did not vote on the land tax, 27 Feb. 1767; and it is uncertain whether he voted on the nullum tempus bill, 17 Feb. 1768—in Rockingham’s list he is shown to have voted with the Opposition, from the lists of Burke and Almon he is absent. There is no record of his having spoken in the House.
Monson did not stand again in 1768, though he was willing to do so in 1770 when a vacancy was expected.4 When he was appointed by the Regulating Act of 1773 to the supreme council of Bengal, the King wrote to North, 8 June 1773:
I am much pleased at Col. Monson’s going third in Council. I have ever found him desirous of service, and though not a showy man, has excellent sense.
Monson himself does not seem to have been keen on going out to India. When in November 1773 two regiments were vacant, North tried to obtain one for Monson, ‘a very deserving officer, who is embarked in a most arduous and important undertaking at the desire of Lord North’; but the King, though very favourable to Monson, refused because in that case Monson would join his regiment and relinquish going to India.5 And Philip Francis, in the review of events sent to Welbore Ellis, 18 Nov. 1777,6 says that no one ‘could have set out on such a service with less inclination to it’—‘he would gladly have resigned his appointment ... if he could have obtained a regiment in lieu of it’. He left England, together with General Clavering and Philip Francis, on 1 Apr. 1774, and reached Calcutta on 19 Oct.; and soon engaged in the bitter campaign against Hastings by which he is chiefly known. Burke’s eulogy of Monson, after his death, can be disregarded as much as Elijah Impey’s diatribe against him. He seems to have been an honourable man of mediocre abilities, indebted for his rise to his political connexions; he started out with certain prejudices against the East India Company acquired during his earlier stay in India, and soon became involved in a struggle to which he was hardly equal.
He died in India 25 Sept. 1776.


Timberman

[timberman]

1939-1945 Star : Lieutenant R W V Elliott, Manchester Regiment
 
Creator
Unknown
Subjects
1939-45 Star; Germany; Second World War, 1939-1945
Summary
Associated with the service of Ralph Warren Victor Elliott (Rudolf Ehrenberg). Elliott was the son of Kurt Phillip Rudolf Ehrenberg, born 31 January 1893, who served with the German Army in France in WW I. A member of an academic family whose ancestors include Martin Luther, Kurt Ehrenberg was an architect based in Berlin who married a Jewish woman after the war and had a daughter and a son, Rudolf. Rudolf Ehrenberg was born on 14 August 1921 and attended the Bismark Gymnasium in Karlsruhe from 1931 until 1936. Soon after the family moved there, they began to feel the growing effects of anti-Semitism. One day Rudolf's German language teacher arrived for lessons clad in full SS uniform; Kurt's car was requisitioned by the SA and Kurt's brother (also named Rudolf), Professor of Biology at the University of Gottingen, was stripped of his post and sent to serve with the Labour Corps. As a result Kurt Ehrenberg decided to get his family out of Germany. His daughter married and emigrated to the United States and his son Rudolf was sent to stay with his uncle, Max Born in Edinburgh (Born later won the 1954 Noble Prize in Physics and had devoted much time in 1915 and 1916 as a member of the German Army developing the theory of sound ranging). Kurt and his wife only managed to escape two weeks before war was declared in 1939. Rudolf attended St Andrews University, Fife, Scotland, in 1939-40 before he was interned as an alien and sent to Canada. Ten months later he was brought back and offered a position in an Aliens Pioneers Company. On 12 May 1943, Rudolf Ehrenberg changed his name to Ralph Warren Victor Elliott. His performance in the Pioneers Company led to an offer of officer training at Sandhurst, where he was awarded the Sword of Honour (during wartime Britain, shortages of material meant he only received a medallion, not the sword). His proud father, also interned by the British authorities for a period, managed to attend the ceremony. Lieutenant Elliott was soon posted to the Leicestershire Regiment. He joined them just as they were recovering from a mauling in the Belgium forests in early 1945 and were withdrawing to rebuild the unit. He was then transferred to the Manchester Regiment in April 1945, placed in charge of a company as they crossed the Rhine and entered the Teutorburg Wald, a part of the 'Atlantik Wall' defences. The thickness of the woods forced their supporting tanks to divert around the wood, and his company soon come under determined attack from fanatical SS and Hitler Youth, wounding many of his company including himself. Elliott was shot through the middle and spent hours trying to remain conscious to stay alive. He asked a passing German for 'wasser bitte' in fluent German and the surprised man flung him his water bottle. A counterattack headed by a British artillery barrage forced the Germans to retire and Elliott was rescued by a stretcher party of Desert Rat veterans. He then lapsed into unconsciousness. He survived and credited his life to the recent introduction of penicillin. Elliott returned to St Andrews, receiving honours in languages and eventually immigrated to Australia with his family and father to lecture in medieval languages at Adelaide. His contribution to Australian society was recognised in 2001 with the award of the Centenary Medal.


Timberman

[timberman]

 A bit more from Wiki on Lieutenant R W V Elliott, Manchester Regiment

Ralph Warren Victor Elliott, AM (born Rudolf W. H. V. Ehrenberg; 14 August 1921 – 24 June 2012) was a German-born Australian professor of English, and a runologist.
Life and career
Elliott was born Rudolf W. H. V. Ehrenberg in Berlin, Germany, on 14 August 1921, the son of Margarete (Landecker) and Kurt Phillip Rudolf Ehrenberg, an architect.[1] Rudolf's father was of half Jewish and half German Lutheran background, and his mother was Jewish.[2] His paternal grandfather was the distinguished jurist Victor Gabriel Ehrenberg and his paternal grandmother was the daughter of Rudolf von Jhering. Through his father, Elliott was a first cousin, once removed, of singer Olivia Newton-John. The family moved to Karlsruhe in 1931, and Rudolf attended the Bismarck Gymnasium there between the ages of ten and sixteen. Because of the dangers that his family were facing under the Nazi regime, Kurt Ehrenberg decided it was best for his family to leave Germany. His eldest daughter married and emigrated to the United States. Rudolf and his younger sister, Lena, were sent to live with their uncle, the Nobel Prize-winning physicist Max Born, in Edinburgh. Rudolf's parents managed to escape to Britain two weeks before the outbreak of the Second World War.[3]

Rudolf Ehrenberg enrolled at the University of St Andrews in 1939, where he gained a medallion for General English in 1940.[4] Later the same year he was interned and sent to an internment camp in the Isle of Man and then in Canada, only to be allowed to return to Britain ten months later to join an Alien Pioneer Company. Rudolf Ehrenberg changed his name to Ralph Warren Victor Elliott on 12 May 1943. After officer training at Sandhurst he was awarded the Sword of Honour (actually a medallion because of wartime shortages).[5] With the rank of lieutenant, he was posted to the Leicestershire Regiment, and then to the Manchester Regiment in April 1945. He was severely wounded in combat in the Teutoburg Forest, and nearly died before being rescued several hours later.[3]

After the end of the war, Elliott resumed his studies at St Andrews, where he graduated in 1949. He taught at St Andrews for a while, before moving to the newly created University College of North Staffordshire, where he wrote an influential introduction to the runic script that was published in 1959.[6] He emigrated to Australia, with his family (his wife, Margaret Robinson, and two children Hilary and Francis) and his father, where he took up a post teaching Old English and Middle English at the University of Adelaide, rising to the position of professor. He was appointed as Foundation Professor of English at Flinders University in Adelaide in 1964.[7] He later accepted the position of Master of University House at the Australian National University in Canberra, where he remained until retirement. During this time he published books on Chaucer's English (1974) and Thomas Hardy's English (1984). He contributed greatly to the University's and to Canberra's cultural life, such as by helping launch the National Word Festival, and generously tutoring students. He was a regular reviewer for the Canberra Times for ten years and hosted a talkback radio session on ABC 666. He loved books and reading, and "donated signed book collections both to the ANU Library and University House".[8]

He died in Canberra on 24 June 2012.[9][8]

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Ralph also wrote a book on Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, a topic that had interested him since his time in Staffordshire a quarter of a century earlier, when he wrote an essay "Sir Gawain in Staffordshire: A Detective Essay in Literary Geography" that appeared in The Times on 21 May 1958. He located the chapel the knight searches for near ("two myle henne" v1078) the old manor house at Swythamley Park at the bottom of a valley ("bothm of the brem valay" v2145) on a hillside ("loke a littel on the launde, on thi lyfte honde" v2147) in a large fissure ("an olde caue,/or a creuisse of an olde cragge" v2182–83).[10]

Honours
In 1990 he was made a Member of the Order of Australia in recognition of "service to the community and to education".[11] In 2001 he was awarded the Centenary Medal for "service to Australian society and the humanities in the history of the English language".[12] In 2005 he published a short autobiography entitled One Life, Two Languages.

Timberman